Ethnocultural Factors in Substance Abuse Treatment

by Straussner, Shulamith Lala Ashenberg

• ISBN13: 9781572308855
• ISBN10: 1572308850
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-12-13
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

This volume presents a culturally informed framework for understanding and treating substance abuse problems. From expert contributors, chapters cover specific ethnocultural groups in the United States, including Americans of African, Native American, Latino, European, Middle Eastern, and Asian descent. While emphasizing the need to see each client as a unique individual, the book examines how ethnocultural factors may affect a person's attitudes toward alcohol and other drugs, patterns of substance use, reasons for seeking treatment, and responsiveness to various interventions. Themes addressed include the impact of migration and acculturation issues, spiritual values and traditions, family structures, gender roles, and experiences of prejudice and discrimination. Featuring a wealth of illustrative clinical material, the volume makes concrete recommendations for more competent, effective assessment and intervention. It also guides clinicians toward greater awareness of the ways their own ethnocultural backgrounds may affect their interactions with clients.

Author Biography

Shulamith Lala Ashenberg Straussner, DSW, LCSW, is Professor at the Shirley M. Ehrenkranz School of Social Work at New York University, where she is also Director of the Post-Master's Program in the Treatment of Alcohol- and Drug-Abusing Clients. She was a Fulbright Senior Scholar to Israel in 2003; Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel, in January 2002; and Visiting Professor at the Omsk State Pedagogical University in Siberia, Russia, in the spring of 2000. Dr. Straussner has authored and edited numerous publications dealing with substance abuse and is the founding editor of the new Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions. She has served on the National Center on Substance Abuse Treatment panel on workforce issues and is a founding board member of the New York State Institute for Professional Development in Addictions. She serves as a consultant to various hospitals, agencies, and other organizations in New York and lectures on a variety of topics throughout the United States and abroad. She also has a private therapeutic and supervisory practice in New York City.

Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION	1	(28)
Ethnocultural Issues in Substance Abuse Treatment: An Overview	3	(26)
Shulamith Lala Ashenberg Straussner
II. WORKING WITH CLIENTS OF AFRICAN BACKGROUND	29	(46)
Substance Abuse in African American Communities	31	(21)
Ednita M. Wright
Substance Abuse Issues among English-Speaking Caribbean People of African Ancestry	52	(23)
Eda F. Harris-Hastick
III. WORKING WITH CLIENTS OF NATIVE AMERICAN AND LATINO BACKGROUNDS	75	(90)
Native Americans and Substance Abuse	77	(20)
Hilary N. Weaver
Substance Abuse among Cuban Americans	97	(14)
Eugenio M. Rothe
Pedro Ruiz
Substance Abuse in the Mexican American Population	111	(26)
Louis R. Alvarez
Pedro Ruiz
Toward an Understanding of Puerto Rican Ethnicity and Substance Abuse	137	(28)
Catherine Medina
IV. WORKING WITH CLIENTS OF EUROPEAN BACKGROUND	165	(108)
Substance Abuse among Americans of British Descent	167	(13)
Katherine Stuart van Wormer
Substance Abuse Treatment with Clients of French Background	180	(19)
Ann A. Abbott
The Irish and Substance Abuse	199	(17)
Philip O'Dwyer
Italian Culture and Its Impact on Addiction	216	(18)
Pia Marinangeli
Polish Identity and Substance Abuse	234	(16)
Jim Gilbert
Jan Langrod
Russian-Speaking Substance Abusers: New Country, Old Problems	250	(23)
Helen Kagan
Kathryn C. Shafer
V. WORKING WITH CLIENTS OF MIDDLE EASTERN BACKGROUND	273	(46)
Substance Use among Arabs and Arab Americans	275	(16)
Nuha Abudabbeh
Andrew Hamid
Jewish Substance Abusers: Existing but Invisible	291	(28)
Shulamith Lala Ashenberg Straussner
VI. WORKING WITH CLIENTS OF ASIAN BACKGROUND	319	(118)
Substance Abuse Treatment Issues with Cambodian Americans	321	(24)
Mary Ann Bromley
S. K. Chhem Sip
Ethnocultural Background and Substance Abuse Treatment of Chinese Americans	345	(23)
Ting-Fun May Lai
Ethnocultural Background and Substance Abuse Treatment of Asian Indian Americans	368	(25)
Daya Singh Sandhu
Ruby Malik
Substance Abuse Interventions for Japanese and Japanese American Clients	393	(25)
Jun Matsuyoshi
Substance Abuse among Korean Americans: A Sociocultural Perspective and Framework for Intervention	418	(19)
Young Hee Kwon-Ahn
Index	437